The TWA Flight Center

TERMINAL 5
JOHN F. KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
QUEENS, NEW YORK

For Open House New York Weekend, what is perhaps the world’s most famous — and arguably its most groundbreaking — airport terminal opened its doors to the public. Dustin and Fiona went to check it out.

Photos by Dustin
Saturday, 11 October 2014

Fiona really enjoyed exploring the head house with Dustin.

A large clock reigns over the entire head house from the center of the ceiling.

A vintage departure board presides over the main waiting area in the terminal. The windows originally looked out over the tarmac and gate areas; they now face terminal 5, which was completed in 2008 and serves JetBlue.

A lounge area has been restored to its original 1962 appearance. The terminal, also known as the “head house”, has been fully restored and is currently being converted into a hotel, set to open in 2018.

Perhaps no airport structure in the world evokes the sense of flight and the wonder of technology more than the graceful, sweeping curves of Eero Saarinen’s TWA Flight Center.

Looking over the main waiting area.

Looking over the bridge that bisects the head house and separates the waiting area in this view from the entryway to the left, just out of the frame.

This view from the bridge reveal a flowing structure that has hardly a straight line inside or out.

Fiona and her green raincoat stand out against the red carpeting and white walls of one of the two tube-shaped corridors that connected the head house to the original gates. The southern tube dates from the original 1962 Saarinen structure while the northern one, seen in this photo, was added in 1969 as part of Flight Wing One by architects Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo.

A bridge somewhat reminiscent of a bird in flight bisects the main interior space of the head house, separating an entryway on the curb side of the building from a waiting area facing toward the planes.